I guess a bad review is fair as long as it is honest and sticks to relevant facts - a bad review because of and describing a sub standard job is fair, a bad review because you didn't get a cup of tea isn't. Just my opinion.

I think we should all post our reviews, both good and bad. However they need to be constructive, honest, fair and not a means whereby people can just moan or let off steam

We've all used reviews, references and customer feedback at some stage of our lives. It's what helps shape public services. If I were a business I'd want to know that I'm not getting it right, so that I could adapt, mature and build a business that people would want to use. Makes sense I think

I use ukcampsites to conduct searches for places to stay and the review pages are very helpful. If 10 different people say something's bad about a place, then it usually is

Dave, you've raised this issue a few times before. while I agree how useful it might be. I don't want them here, this very morning I need to respond to a solicitor about a set of poor reviews on our dealer review site.

When allowed, negative reviews can get pretty messy, especially as we have no way of checking the reviewers integrity. I have caught dealers pretending to be disgruntled customers of competitors and they are not as bad as some people who just make stuff up to cause trouble for others. I just don't need the hassle. However if you feel so strongly about it and want to take it on, register a site in your name and I'll set it up for you and link to it from here

Indeed so, but in the same vain a good review attracts business, so in essence its one way traffic. I have no desire to start my own page, but, a word of caution to fellow Funsters, that reviews are just that an opinion, usually based on facts.

Chris "Sometimes bad reviews are unjustified and causes a dealer ( or any other business) a lot of damage." as I said good reviews also attract business.. Strange old world...

"REVOLUTION,- A bursting of the boilers which usually takes place when the safety valve of public discussion is closed."​

A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.​

Bad reviews are not always bad for a company. Very often it depends on their response. Sometimes, for me at least, a "sorry we messed up, how can we put it right" response to a bad review, gives me more confidence than a whole page of 5 star glowing reviews.

Also some customers cannot be satisfied! I know of customers who seem to make a living suing dealers.

I also know of a Van Bitz "third party customer" (we only fitted the supplied equipment) that keeps demanding a refund for the product, that he bought from another Company, from Van Bitz, claiming we miss sold it!

This despite the product working well all through the warranty period. This particular customer pops up un review sites from time to time, using different usernames and slags us off. It takes time to post credible refutation responses and send copies of emails to moderators site owners.

Personally I take very little notice of reviews, having been on the receiving end of them, good and bad.

Having seen the upset and hastle reviews can conjur up on another club I`m a member of, good & bad, I am of the opinion "Reviews" on an open forum is not good news for the trader or the club involved..

It`s easy if you are having an off day to hide behind a computer screen and spout off a bad review, how ever minor the problem is/was...

How ever small your gripe if putting a bad review, will always spiral out of control when you get a reply from the trader that does not suit you or what you want to hear....... then Joe bloggs has to jump in with his two penneth, and you end up having a full scale slanging match.. on open forum, which escalates out of control...

From Saturday June 1st... "Funsters" are more than welcome to pop in and stay for a night or so at our place as our invited guest`s and it`s "Free"...

Maurice & Judy (Judith)2016... Low Profile, Majestic 155.. Only got a little one now... I would sooner help you than hurt you...

I have written some 100 plus reviews on Trip Advisor, each and every one has been open and honest, and I have had feedback from the owners of those businesses. The 'poor reviews I have given have been honest and few of the business have ever come back, you may ask why not complain at the time, well one was a takeaway and I did ring up and have issues, he was less than bothered. I do whenever possible take photographs of the meals/rooms to prove that I was there.
I have no issues in giving reviews, one was a transport cafe which was inexpensive, good honest food, no posh tables or cutlery etc, it was what I expected from the place, the next review by another customer suggested that it was not 'fine dining' well what did he expect for his £4.99 full English?

So I suspect there is a place for 'honest' feedback, not a vendetta, but just an honest review. Good or Bad.

"REVOLUTION,- A bursting of the boilers which usually takes place when the safety valve of public discussion is closed."​

A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.​

Sometimes it's worth reading Trip Advisor reviews for the comedy value. There is an old Italian restaurant/pizzeria near us that serves very good very inexpensive food but hasn't been decorated since about 1973. The are a silly number of Trip Advisor reviews that spend 500 words ranting about the decor, then either say they didn't eat there or the end mention "but the food was lovely" and then give it one star. The restaurant ranks 7 out of well over 100 in the area by the way!

I think every business should encourage its customers to leave reviews. In our own business we joined Trustpilot and soon learned that customers were prepared to give candid feedback to an independent third party that they would never say to our face. We discovered that whilst most customers were delighted with our products/service that others thought there were things we could do better. We used this feedback as a valuable learning tool and 1000+ reviews later have been voted as 'excellent' by Trustpilot. Avoiding fake reviews by competitors is quite easy as you can require reviwers to provide proof of purchase such as an invoice number. There are lots of review sites online so finding the right one for you business type should not be a problem.
With research showing that over 60% of shoppers searching for reviews before making a buying decision. Businesses ignor customer reviews at their peril

If i need a product , i use Which online mag , they sift through the crud products to find the best.
If i need a hands on service i use recommendations from locals who i know who have had experiences with local traders.

So I suspect there is a place for 'honest' feedback, not a vendetta, but just an honest review. Good or Bad.

Click to expand...

But who is to know if a review is honest?

Trip Advisor is a different matter, it exists to gather reviews and has lots of them so you can see a range and hopefully if there are enough reviews it gives you some idea what a place is like.

I didn't know we even had a reviews section on Fun but having looked at it I think it is flawed. There are simply too few reviews on each business. The fact that one or two people had a good experience doesn't tell me much and are the businesses which are not reviewed to be steered clear of?

We've all read countless reviews on the cars and motorhomes we've brought, probably read them about washing machines and fridges too and the reviews have helped us to shape our opinions and options on what we do with our hard earned cash.

I wouldn't be bothered to read a review on a fast food store or café come to that. My mark 1 eyeball does that for me, however if I wanted to spend hundreds of pounds on say fitting solar panels or a satellite system to the motorhome , then I'd want to know that the company I'm trusting my pride and joy with, are well represented and recommended by fellow punters who have also invested their trust and money with them. It makes good business

I think Robert Clerk has it spot on when he says
"With research showing that over 60% of shoppers searching for reviews before making a buying decision. Businesses ignor customer reviews at their peril"

He recommends the use of third parties and a system whereby idiots can't carry out a personal vendetta again you.

It's still all down to common sense and how we, the punters, translate the reviews

If I want to buy anything I look for reviews of that product and then make an informed choice whether to buy or not, if the percentage of bad or negative reviews are more than the good I don`t buy, I find this system works for me, I don`t agree with slanging matches on an open forum, but if there are bad dealers etc. we need to know about them to avoid, constructive criticism is one thing nasty slears are another.
Margaret

a bad review if fine, provided the other side gets a chance to reply and make any offer of reparations, so many of these things are settled quietly and covered up. A decent firm will admit when they get it wrong and put things right, we are not all infallible its how the problems are dealt with that counts and builds goodwill.
There is however a growing trend to use the internet to bully suppliers and that is not on.

Personally I do look at people's reviews on any on-line website I might be looking at to make a purchase. Most reputable online traders have a link to a review site that seems to be independent of their own site.

I think I understand where Dave is coming from here though, I also see where Jim's stance is on this issue. I can understand him not wanting the hassle of irate traders and the possible lawsuits that may ensue!

However is it worth looking at a review site that only allows positive reviews? In my opinion NO!

So the real question is why does the forum have a review section at all?